I sometimes like to screen my brokerage offerings. Today at (USAA Brokerage) I searched for some interesting funds with low expense ratios (less than 1.2%), relatively low minimums ($3k or less) along with some other filters. Here are my results and a short list of funds (36) that I would like readers to comment on if interested.
Of the nearly 9000 fund offered at USAA, only 998 are offered NFT (no transaction fee). Great funds from Fidelity, Vanguard, T Rowe Price and Dodge and Cox and probably others fall off early because they requie a TF (transaction fee...about $45 at USAA). Interestingly, I can get USAA funds at Vanguard brokerage NTF, but not the other way around. So I have a conversation (with myself) about ways to maximize my NTF choices especially with funds I particularly like…sometimes this means changing brokerage companies...a different topic.
Advisor shares show up as NTF choices and I noticed that T. Rowe Price and Fidelity offer Advisor share class funds that are NTF at USAA brokerage. These share classes have a higher ER (expense ratio) than their mother ship fund. For example, T. Rowe Price’s Capital Appreciation Fund (PRWCX which is TF at USAA) is offered NTF as PACLX with an ER .36% higher (roughly 1/3) than PRWCX. Just like TFs, higher ERs can significantly impact your profitability over longer time frames.
One thing I do like about USAA brokerage is they don't have 30, 60 ,or 90 day repurchase stops, or early redemption fees for trading. I have a habit of taking 10% profits from my funds regardless of the length of time I have own a fund. Early redemption fees can hurt profitability when you either want to sell to take profits (gain) or sell to stop losses (think PM funds). Basically, I don’t like early redemption fees. I probably am a good candidate for etfs that can be transacted for free at certain brokerages such as, Vanguard...again, another topic.
Anyway, to make a long story …longer, of the 998 NTF funds at USAA brokerage only 743 funds have an ER of less than 2% and a minimum of $3K. Only 410 funds screen out with a 1.2% max ER and a $3k minimum. Still a lot of choices but not nearly the 9000 fund choices I started with. Of these, only half (220 funds) have managers that have been around for 5 years or more. Only 102 funds have a medium to low standard deviation. Only 53 funds have a medium to high Alpha which means to me that the manager has made some bets and they have paid off. Of these 53 funds, 36 funds have a medium to low beta.
So I identified 36 funds from nearly 9000 funds I started looking at…that’s about 3 fo every 1000 choices. Not sure if they are the needles in the USAA brokerage fund haystack, but take a look and any comments on this list would be appreciated.
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